Topic: I love my rig (Studio Projects and PDAudio fluff)

[BobW]

www.handhelds.org

[rockumal]

I really hope that the PDAudio system become reliable but AFAIK Len still can't say that Core Sound offers the whole magilla in stock, a whole show at 24/96 with no drop outs or what have you, no scrounging eBay for hardware, for a hard and fast price of $X,XXX.XX (I'm hoping about 1k).  Until they reach that point my wallet stays closed.

[Ed.]

So my next plan is to go the linux root since the software and vx pocket drivers are already out there. If anyone's tried this yet I would like to hear some experiences.

i think i need to read up on this more.  i plan on getting a vx pocket one of these days so i can use my lappy for taping with my v3.  if i can use it in a pda for taping as well, it'd definitely be worth the money.

[Craig T]

I had very positive tests last night running 24/96 into an iPaq 3835 with dual pc card expansion pack and Addonics ExDrive (7200 rpm 40GB Travelstar drive).  Now my problem is that ExDrive sucks the expansion pack's battery dry in about 90 minutes.

Anyone with the ExDrive come up with a powering solution?

[MattD]

Not that I have this drive, Craig, but what are the requirements? Will it take a DC input?

[Craig T]

Not that I have this drive, Craig, but what are the requirements? Will it take a DC input?

DC, 5V

[BJ]

about how much would a decent pda, live!2496 and whatever else you need cost roughly?

if you want to record 24/96, I'd recommend getting an external HD.  This configuration is not as stealthy, but for 24/96 you need lots of storage.  CF and SD card capacity is increasing and prices are dropping, but for now I'd stick with an external HD.  I use a 4Gb microdrive for my stealth configuration.  It will record 24/48 for 4 hours, but crashes the PDA at 24/96.  If you want to stealth 24/96, you must invest in a 4GB CF card, which will allow you to record for 2 hours.  You will need more than one card if you need more time.  The latest version of Live2496 allows you to switch cards while recording.

These prices are from the Core-Sounds web page:   

* Core Sound's PDAudio-CF S/PDIF interface card: $199 (Core Sound)
* HP iPAQ h5150 or h5155 PD: around $220 (eBay), or h5550/h5555: under $400 (eBay)
* HP Dual PCMCIA Expansion Pack: under $80 (eBay)
* An external hard drive: $100 and up
* Optical cable to connect Mic2496 and PDAudio-CF: $15 (Core Sound) [look on Ebay for better/less expensive cable]
* Gidluck Mastering's "Live2496" audio recording software: under $50

Total:  Under $700

i was looking at these prices...
* Optical cable to connect Mic2496 and PDAudio-CF: $15 (Core Sound) [look on Ebay for better/less expensive cable]

yet the Mic2496 isnt listed in the overall cost...and that is another 499$ correct?

the reason I am asking..is that I already have a ipaq5555, and would LOVE to get in on this...but it looks like I would still need close to $1k after the ipaq.  but this is VERy interesting idea...24/96 on a handhald...wowie!  time to start saving for these parts and some dpa's....STEALF!  "what, this...no, this is my pda with a larga battery pack...and these are my headphones, b/c it can double as a cell phone."

[Ed.]

you could technically use your UA5 so you really wouldn't need the mic2496 either unless for stealthing.

[MattD]

Craig, how about something like this?

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=919

That'd provide 7.2Ah at 5V. I bet those plugs are adaptaplug compatible, so if one of the delivered ones doesn't work, you could hunt at Radio Shack.

[Ed.]

i think i may go this route eventually considering the price of the 722 and will probably never use 24/192 anyway, but i'm gonna wait a while longer before i take the plunge.  my jb3 still works like a champ.

[Brian Skalinder]

Alright, there's enough useful information in here that I'm gonna move it down to the Recording Gear forum so it doesn't disappear in the next Open Forum purge.

[poorlyconditioned]

I really hope that the PDAudio system become reliable but AFAIK Len still can't say that Core Sound offers the whole magilla in stock, a whole show at 24/96 with no drop outs or what have you, no scrounging eBay for hardware, for a hard and fast price of $X,XXX.XX (I'm hoping about 1k).  Until they reach that point my wallet stays closed.

I agree completely.  I have enough trouble keeping my minidisc and mics in order.  The last thing I need is to have more parts to connect, batteries to forget, etc.  Keep it simple, I say...

  Richard

[lds490]

I had very positive tests last night running 24/96 into an iPaq 3835 with dual pc card expansion pack and Addonics ExDrive (7200 rpm 40GB Travelstar drive).  Now my problem is that ExDrive sucks the expansion pack's battery dry in about 90 minutes.

Anyone with the ExDrive come up with a powering solution?

I went to Radio Shack and built a hack for my PDA cigarette lighter adaptor.  One of these will do the job:

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1286

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=894

[julius_the_cat]

Just started with an Ipaq 2215 ($230 on ebay) Live2496 software ($50) and one 1 GB SD ($60) with a Mini-me and battery pac and SP C4 mics. The ipaq fits nicely into the pocket of the Mini-me case. 

When the 2 and 3 Gb SD memory cards are available cheaper, if you're satisfied with 24/48 I think it will be the method of choice as the SDs have no moving parts to fail, do not require external power and are the size of postage stamps.  I'm planning to add 2-4 GB over the next few months as prices drift down.

[surf1div1]

Stephen,
Thanks for the feedback- I know this topic is probably dead at this point- right now I see in red a warning about the topic, but I really appreciate your feedback- also, despite the fact that media costs are dropping slightly on the CF media, I recently purchased a 4 gig CF card from Kingston and my Ipaq doesn't recognize it- I'm posting this so that if your still considering this rig in light of the cogent issues that have been brought up in Stephens post, for those of us into stealth, this isn't a valid option @ 24/96. Even Gordon, the software developer admits that currently he's not been able to get 24/96 out of it consistently for extended recording times (over 50 mintues). What I've been doing is trying the 24/88.2 settings to make it get close. But, your points about Core, and the design are valid. While I have nothing personal against the man, this footprint is simply unreliable @ 24/96 for stealth.  With M-Audio's products and others coming down the pipe, I'm not about to go out and invest in new hardware until I see that the stuff that some are promoting actually works. The fact that this topic is morbid tells me something- people have moved on. Hopefully someone comes out with a steath rig that really does as promised- something Core doesn't.

I have brought up my issues with Core Sound in general and their Mic2496 in particular several times on these forums. I don't feel the need to go over this again, suffice it to say I'm just not impressed with either, and I would urge caution with anyone considering dealing with coresound.

I have a question- which part of the design specifically do you find fault with? Hardware, Software, combo of both?


<snipped the tech side>

It CAN be done, with careful design, and possibly writing your own realtime operating system dedicated to this task, there is plenty of slack in a CF/microdrive system to make it work. The solution is not to throw more CPU power at the problem, since the CPU is not the bottleneck. Careful design is the correct solution

Embedded systems is where I'm at, it's what I do for a living. This would be an incredibly cool project... if only I could find the time

best regards,
stephen